Towel cabinet



1 1929- G. E. COLLINS 1,724,128

TOWEL CABINET Filed May 26, 1928 J JNVENTOR f. BY

Patented Aug. 13, 1929.

PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE E. QOLLINS, OF ST. LOUIS COUNTY, MISSOURI.

TOWEL CABINET.

Application filed May 26,

My invention relates to public washroom equipment where it is desired to supply a quantity of clean towels secured in such manner that they cannot be readily stolen by the users.

The main object of my invention is to provide a neat wall cabinet, of relatively small size as compared with cabinets which stand upon the floor, which will receive and enclose a supply of clean towels and present the same one by one in position to be grasped by a user and withdrawn from the cabinet for use and after use to be discarded without being removed from suitable retaining means.

Towels for the service referred to are usually supplied and laundered by agencies removed from the place of use and the towels are usually collected by drivers who havea number of stations on their route.

It is a further object of my invention not only to prevent removal of a group of towels from the cabinet except by authorized persons, but also to prevent removal of the individual towels from the towel holding means, which is mounted in the cabinet. This is to prevent the theft of towels by a dishonest employee of the supply or laundry company. 1

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate a selected embodiment of my inven tion- Figure 1 is a front elevation of my cabinet showing several used towels after they have been discarded.

Figure 2 is a'vertical section from front to back of the cabinet, the towels and towel holding element being shown in for clearer illustration.

Figure 3 is a top view of the cabinet.

Figure 4 is an enlarged detail of the towel bar holding means mounted on top of the cabinet.

Figure 5 is an enlarged detail of the towel supporting portion ofthe bar.

The cabinet comprises a rear wall 1, side walls 2, a bottom wall 3, a top wall 4, and a front door 5 hinged to one of the side walls and provided with a key controlled lock 6, the key of which may be carried by the driver Who supplies the towels or by el evation 1928. Serial No. 280,803.

any other person who may be authorized to remove and replace towels.

The top wall 4 is provided with a slot 7 which extends inwardly from its forward edge. When door 5 is closed it contacts with the forward edge of top wall 1 and closes the forward end of slot 7. The lower portion of door 5 is provided with a relatively small opening 8.

A towel mounting member is shown as comprising a rigid bar having a straight body portion 9 and a forwardly projecting arm 10 extending through the door opening 8 and at its connection to the body portion. 9 forming a horizontal shoulder,11 adapted to arrest the movement of towels downwardly along the bar. The connection between shoulder 11 and the body 9 includes a rounded outer corner 12 and a substantially angular inner corner 13 whereby when the folded end of the bottom towel 14: is grasped and pulled through opening 8, the towel grommet 15 may be pulled around the corner of the bar and may move forwardly over the bar portion 10 and the retaining chain 16 attached to the end of the bar. This will permit the next higher towel to descend until its grommet rests horizontally upon the shoulder 11 where it will remain until it has been pulled about the corner. and removed from the cabinet.

The towel bar is shown as suspended in the cabinet by means of the yoke 17 of the padlock 18 which is seated in recesses 19 provided in the sides of an upstanding bracket 20 secured to the top wall 1- of the cabinet. Obviously the bar cannot be removed from the cabinet, when' door 5 is closed, because of the engagement of the top wall 4 by the padlock 18 at the upper end of the bar or by the padlock 21 at the lower end of chain 16.

When door 5 is open, however, the bar may be raised slightly and moved for wardly out of slot 7 and then dropped and turned so as to pass through the opening 8 in the door. In inserting a supply of fresh towels into the cabinet, the bar mounting the same will be moved inwardly through slot 7 and the depending end of the bar an t hain at ached; th rein will passed through the opening in the door as the latter is closed. When the door is locked, the towel bar and chain and the towels mounted thereon are again secured against removal from the cabinet.

I show a guide member 22 in the cabinet at the rear of the towels and the function of this member is to guide the lowermost towels toward the front of the cabinet so that the user will not have to reach in any farther than is necessary. This guide member will be of advantage particularly when there are only a few towels remaining on the rod. Themember may be eliminated if desired. The member may be of yielding material or may be a rigid structure.

While the used towels may be suspended immediately in front of and below the cabinet, in order to accommodate these towels when the cabinetis mounted over a washstand or elsewhere, when it is not convenient for the towels'to hang below the cabinet, I provide a hook 23 on one side of the cabinet over which the chain 16 may be thrown to hold the used towels at one side of the cabinet. This feature is not essential to the use of my cabinet.

It will be understood that the towel mounting bar and the supply of towels thereon may be applied to the cabinet "through openings formed in other walls of the cabinet besides the'front wall and the selection of the front wall and the mounting tions in the details of the construction may be utilized without departing from the spirit of my invention, and I contemplate the eX- clusive use of all variations which come within the scope of my claims.

I claim:

1. In a towel cabinet, a towel enelosing compartment, a door forming the front of said compartment having an opening throughwhich towels may be withdrawn, a top wall meeting said door and having a slot extending inwardly from its front edge toreceive a towel holdingmeinber projectmg up from said compartment through said slot, s'ald wall being adapted to engage an enlargement on the upper end of said member to support the same and towels 'i'nounted thereoaa element on said member projectmg from the interior of said compartment through said opening for guiding the ends of towels oil-said member toward said door as they. move downwardly in said compartment, and a yielding member in the lower portion of said compartment for guiding the free ends of said towels toward the front thereof.

21111 a towel cabinet, a towel compartmerit a fifoilt Wall, 51 bar adapted to pass through a plurality of towel grommets and having its upper end suspended from the cabinet structure and extending downwardly through said compartment and terminating in a forwardly projecting arm, the bend between the body of said bar and said arm having a round outer lower corner and an angular inner upper corner, and being free from contact with the cabinet structure, said arm extending through said front wall.

3. In a towel cabinet, a towel enclosure and a towel grommet receiving bar extending upwardly and downwardly in said compartment and having a forwardly extending arm providing a shoulder adapted to arrest the passage of towel grommets along said bar under pressure from above, said arm being connected to the body of said bar by a rounded corner which will permit the passage of said grommet over said should and along said arm when said grommet is tilted by a forward pull on its towel.

4. In a towel cabinet, a towel compartment, a door to said compartment, a lock for securing said door in closed position, said compartment being provided with an opening for the passage of towels therethrough, a towel grommet receiving member extending through said compartment and opening, and means holding said member against i'emoval through said opening when said door is closed, said member being rcmovable through said opening when said door is opened, and elements for locking towels on said member irrespective of said door and door lock.

5. In a towel cabinet, a towel compartment, a door in said compartment, a lock for securing said door in closed position, said compartment being provided with an opening for the passage of towels there through, a towel grommet receiving mcn'lbcr extending through said compartment and opening, and means holding said member against removal through said opening when said. door is closed, said member being removable through said opening when said door is opened, and padlocks on each end of said member for preventing the removal of towel grommets from said member.

6'. In a towel cabinet, a box-like compertinent, a door in one vertical side thereof and provided with an opening through which towels may be withdrawn, a lock for said door, a bar adapted to pass through a series of towel grommets and disposed substantially vertically in said compartment with a short substantially horizontal portion projecting through said opening, means suspending said bar from the upper portion of said cabinet, a lock preventing removal of said bar from said means only when said door is closed, and a flexible towel retaining element on the forward end of said horizontal portion for used towels.

7. In a towel cabinet, a towel enclosing compartment, a door forming the front of said compartment and having an opening through which towels may be Withdrawn, a top Wall meeting said door and having a slot extending inwardly from its front edge, a towel holding member projecting up from said compartment, said Wall being adapted to engage an enlargement on the upper end of said member to support the same and 10 towels mounted thereon, and a board projecting from the rear of said compartment for pressing a body of towels on said member toward said door as they move down ardly in said compartment.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature this 22nd da of May, 1928.

O. E. COLLINS. 

